Reducing and comminuting apparatus



Feb. 12, 1963 G. K. KOCHER 3,077,309

REDUCING AND COMMINUTING APPARATUS Filed April 14, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. GEQQFE K X06645? WMZMM ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1963 s. K. KOCHER 3,077,309

REDUCING AND COMMINUTING APPARATUS Filed April 14, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 33 ZL I 9 .33

" I l l8 m 2 I i IN! INVENTOR. amwimzam aq BY O Q M W/m ATTORNEYS BfiTLBfiQ Patented Feb. 12, 19.63

3,l 77,3ii9 REDUCHNG AN!) CQMMINUTING APPARATUS George K. Kocher, 604 Elmira Sh, White Haven, Pa. Filed Apr. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 103,033

9 Claims. (Cl. 241-221) This invention relates to and has as its principal object the provision of apparatus for reducing and comminuting various particulate materials and, more particularly, to the provision of such apparatus in which rotary cylindrical wire brushes are the active agent in effecting such reduction and comminution.

In accordance with this invention, a plurality of wire brushes of the cylindrical rotary type are rotatably mount, ed within a cylindrical or modified cylindrical container, with the axes of the brushes parallel to each other and with the peripheral surface of each brush disposed adjacent to that of two adjacent brushes. At least three brushes are required, and four or more are preferably used. When arranged as indicated above, they will enclose a relatively confined prismatic chamber. The inner Wall of the container is spaced from the peripheries of the brushes to provide an annular chamber around the brushes. Means are provided for rotating the brushes at high speed in the same rotational direction, i.e., either all clockwise or all counterclockwise, so that adjacent surfaces of adjacent brushes will move in opposite directions. While the brushes can be mounted with their axes either horizontal or inclined to the horizontal, they are preferably mounted with their axes extending vertically. The particulate material that is to be reduced and comminuted is brought into contact. with the brushes, preferably by charging it into the inner prismatic chamber enclosed by the brushes. Particles of this material are caught by the peripheries ofthe brushes and hurled tangentially therefrom at high speed against the wires of. adjacent brushes moving in the opposite direction. the same means, particles are also. hurled against other particles that have in turn been flung outward by other brushes. The resulting collisions between particles, and between particles and the ends of the wire bristles of the brushes, cause the particles to disintegrate by impact and attrition. The reduction and comminution process may be carried on as a batch process, in which the particulate matter is subjected to reduction and comminution for a desired period of time and then removed from the apparatus. Alternatively, the process may be carried on continuously, in which case the particulate matter may be fed into the container at one end and removed from the other end. If desired, the material discharged from the apparatus may be sized, and the oversize may be fed back into the apparatus for further reduction and comminution.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus, employing four brushes;

FIG. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, along the line II'II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section along the line III III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View along the line IV-IV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section along the line 'VV of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged horizontal section, similarto FIG. 3, of a modified form of the invention, showing.

eight wire brushes spaced around a central column; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged horizontal section, similar to FIG. 3, of a further modificationin which a ring of eight brushes surrounds an inner group of four brushes- Referring to the drawings, the apparatus of this invention includes a container 1, either in the form of a cusped cylinder, as in FIG. 3, or of a plain cylinder, as in FIGS. 6 and 7. The upper end of the container is closed by a cover plate 2, releasably secured to the container by bolts 3. To the bottom of the container is bolted a generally conical transition piece 4, having an outlet 6. The inner wall of the container in the area of the brushes is preferably lined with resilient material 7', which may be of rubber, neoprene, or similar material.

Within the container are rotatably mounted at least three cylindrical wire brushes 8 of the rotary type. FIGS. l-3 show four such brushes, each of which is mounted on a shaft 9, and includes a core 11 secured to and sur: rounding the shaft, and a plurality of wire bristles 12 set into and extending radially outward from the core (see PEG. 3). The brushes are of conventional design, al-. though special brushes can be provided if desired. The diameter and length of the wires in these brushes, their spacing, their angular inclination to a diameter of a brush, and their composition will be determined by the type of particulate material that is to be reduced and comminuted and also by the fineness desired in the end prod uct. Each of the brushes 8 may consist of one hemogeneous wire brush of desired length and diameter, or. may be an assembly of short cylindrical brushes secured end to end on a common shaft. The brushes are mounted with their shafts parallel and, preferably, ex-, tending vertically, as shown in FIG. 2. A minimum of; three brushes is required, and four is generally desirable; and the brushes are arranged with their axes coinciding with the edges of a right prism having a regular polygon for a base. In FIG. 3, the axes of the four brushes coin, cide with the edges of a right square prism. The brushes of FIG. 3 are of the same diameter, and adjacent brushes. are spaced from each other by an amount varying from zero clearance between their peripheries to a quarter on half inch, or more, depending upon the coarseness of the feed and the ultimate fineness desired in the end product. Generally speaking, the finer the end product, the smaller will be the diameter of the brushes and of the wire bristles thereon, the more densely will the bristles be set, and the smaller will be the clearances between ad-. jacent brushes.

In FIGS. 1-5 are shown means for mounting the brushes so that they will be adjustable radially of the, container, in order to vary the clearances between brushes for different feeds and to compensate for brush wear. The upper portions of shaft 9 are supported in bearings. 13 slidably mounted in slots 14 in cover plate 2. Each bearing 13 is a composite bearing with a reduced neck portion 16, having flattened sides that are received within the slot 14, as most clearly shown in FIG. 4. An ad-. justing screw 17 is threadably mounted on a fixed support 18 secured to the cover plate. The inner unthreaded, end of the screw passes through. a block 19, which is at tached to the upper side of bearing 1?, and is rotatably secured to this block by spaced collars 21. By turningthe adjusting screws 1'7, the bearings 13 and the upper ends of shafts 9 can be moved radially inward or outward in the slots 14. Similar adjustability is provided for. the lower bearings 22, which are supported on slides 23 slidably received in radial brackets 24. The radial positions of the bearings are controlled by adjusting screws 26, which are rotatably mounted on a flattened portion of the wall of the container It by means of spaced collars 27 and have their threaded inner ends engaging a. threaded hole 23 in the bearing slides 23 (See FIG. 5).. Variable pitch drive pulleys 31 are mounted on the upperv ends of shafts 9, and each pulley is driven by a separaternotor 32 through a belt 33. The motors are mountedon brackets 3 attached to the outside of container 1.

The brushes are rotated, preferably at the same high speed, in the same direction, i.e., all clockwise or, as shown in the drawings, all counterclockwise. As a result, the adjacent surfaces of any two adjacent brushes will move in opposite directions.

With four brushes arranged as above described, the relatively confined space enclosed by the brushes defines a chamber 36 in the form of a cusped prism, or a parallelepipedon with four cylindrically-concave sides, the cross section of which is shown in FIG. 3. If desired, the bottom of chamber 36 may be left open; or it may be partially or substantially closed by a circular plate 37 with an upturned outer edge 38, which may be supported on top of the lower bearings 22. The plate is smaller in diameter than the container so as not to seal the outer chamber 39 between the brushes and the wall of the container. If desired, plate 37 can be provided with one or more openings 40 for partial closure of the bottom of chamber 36, or the plate may be dispensed with altogether. In either case, the particulate matter, which is preferably already of small size when introduced into chamber 36, does not simply drop through that chamber, but tends to be suspended therein due to the air and particle currents generated by the whirling brushes.

The length of the cylindrical brushes 8 and their diameter are matters of choice, depending on the desired capacity of the apparatus, the material being treated therein, and the fineness desired in the end product. For reducing large tonnage of friable material, such as particles of coal, it is contemplated that the brushes may be two or three feet in diameter and fifteen or twenty feet or more long."**"n the other hand, for reducing and comminuting finer materials, such as steel grindings, pellets, or granules of pure metals, and certain ores, the brushes will be smaller in diameter and generally shorter in length. In addition, where it is desired to comminute particles of relatively pure metals, it may be desirable to make the wire bristles of the brushes of the same or of substantially the same metal as that being treated, so that particles of metal worn from the ends of the wires in the brushes, which will be included in the end product discharged from the apparatus, will not contaminate that product.

Particulate material is fed into chamber 36 through a pipe 41; and some of the end product is withdrawn through chamber 3? and outlet 6. After the particulate material has been introduced into chamber 36, the particles constituting the feed that are adjacent to the peripheries of the brushes will be struck by the ends of the wires therein, which are moving at a very high peripheral speed. The impact of these wires on the particles will abrade the latter and will also tend to throw the particles tangentially against the wires of an adjacent brush, which are moving rapidly in the opposite direction. The particles will accordingly be subjected to a series of very rapid impacts by the ends of the wire bristles in the brushes. In addition, particles impacted and hurled in opposite directions by adjacent brushes will collide with each other. In fact, the turbulence inside the inlet chamber 36 will be such that there will be a veritable maelstrom of flying particles, colliding at high speed with each other and with the whirling wire bristles. As particles tend to be carried out of chamber 36 by any one particular brush, they tend to be driven back into the chamber by the wires of an adjacent brush moving in the opposite direction. If the clearances between the brushes are very small, and they should approach zero when it is desired to get a very fine end product, very little of the material will escape from inner chamber 36 into outer chamber 39 until the particles have been considerably reduced in size. Those particles that are carried or flung by the brushes into the outer chamber will strike the resilient wall '7 of the container and tend to bounce back into the paths of the brushes, and some of these particles will be returned to the central chamber 36. Others of the par.-

ticles reaching the outer chamber 39 will tend to settle to the bottom of that chamber and pass out of the 6P paratus through the outlet 6. These particles may be returned, by conventional means not shown, to the inlet pipe 41 and resubjected to the action of the brushes. Recirculation of the material through the apparatu can be facilitated by a fan or other means, and separation of fines can be obtained by conventional separating and collecting apparatus.

In FIG. 6 is shown a modified form of the invention, in which container 51 is a plain cylinder and encloses eight brushes 52, the axes of which are parallel and coincide with the edges of a right octagonal prism. The brushes are rotated in the same direction by suitable means (not shown). The outer annular space 53 between the walls of the container and the outer peripheries of the brushes corresponds to the similar chamber 39 in FIG. 3. The chamber 54, enclosed by the brushes themselves, is similar to chamber 36 of FIG. 3, except that a portion of it is occupied by a fluted cylindrical column 56, centrally located in the chamber. This column may be of hard metal, surfaced on the outside, if desired, with tungsten or titanium carbide. The modification shown in FIG. 6 is particularly adapted for reducing friable material, such as coal, which is fed into the chamber 54 outside of the column 56. The top of this column may, if desired, be in the form of an inverted cone to distribute the feed properly. In addition to the actions and reactions described in connection with FIGS. 13, in this modification some of the particles in chamber 54 will also be struck by the brushes and thrown against the central column 56 and further fragmented by such impact.

The modification shown in FIG. 7 includes two concentric rings of brushes, an inner ring of four brushes 61, which is similar in arrangement and function to the brushes 8 shown in FIG. 3, and an outer ring of brushes 62 of larger diameter. All of the brushes are shown as rotating in the same direction,- and they are rotated preferably, but not necessarily, at the same peripheral speed. The brushes are connected to suitable driving means (not shown) for rotating them, and the pulleys at the upper ends of their shafts may be vertically staggered to facilitate separate independent drives, or tWo or more brushes in each ring may be connected by suitable means to a single drive. For this embodiment, there are a plurality of inter-brush chambers, including an inner central chamber 63, four intermediate chambers 64, and an outer chamber 66. The material may be fed into the central chamber, or into the intermediate chambers, or into both the central and intermediate chambers. This modification of the apparatus is particularly useful in comminuting metallic pellets, granules, or powders into an impalpable dust.

The feed to the reducing and comminuting apparatus of this invention is preferably in the form of small particles when introduced therein, since it is the purpose of this apparatus to be particularly effective in reducing material to a very fine powder, suitable for suspension in liquids, for die castings, and other uses requiring extremely small particle size.

f According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it under-- stood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for reducing and comminuting particulate material, comprising a container, at least three cy,-.

cylindrical surface of each brush disposed adjacent to that of-two adjacent brushes to form a relatively confined inner chamber surrounded by the brushes, the inner wall of the container being spaced from the cylindrical surfaces of the brushes to provide an outer annular chamber surrounding the brushes, means for rotating the brushes at high speed in the same rotational direction, means for charging particulate material into one of the chambers, and means for withdrawing particulate material from one of the chambers after such material has been subjected to the action of the brushes.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the cylindrical surface of each brush is spaced between zero and one hair" inch from the cylindrical surfaces or" each of two adjacent brushes.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which there are four cylindrical wire brushes with their axes coinciding with the edges of a right square prism.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which a metal column is disposed within the inner chamber and spaced from the peripheries of the brushes surrounding that chamber, the axis of the column being parallel to the axes of the brushes.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which the inner wall of the container is lined with resilient material.

6. Apparatus for reducing and comminuting particulate material, comprising a cylindrical contain-er, a first set of at least three cylindrical wire brushes rotatably mounted inside the container with their axes coinciding with the edges of a right prism having a regular polygon as a base and with the cylindrical surface of each brush adjacent to that of two adjacent brushes to form a relatively confined inner chamber surrounded by said brushes, a second set of a plurality of additional cylindrical wire brushes rotatably mounted inside the ylinder in a ring surrounding the first set of brushes and with their axes parallel to those of the first set and coinciding with the edges of a separate right prism having a regular polygon as a base, each brush of the second set having its cylindrical surface disposed adjacent to that of two adjacent brushes in the same set and to that of a single brush of the first set, the first and second sets of brushes defining a plurality of separate intermediate chambers lying between the two sets, the second set of brushes being spaced radially inward from the wall of the container to define an annular chamber between said wall and the outer boundaries of the brushes of said second set, means for rotating all of the brushes of both sets in the same rotational direction, means for introducing the particulate matter to be reduced and cornminuted into at least one of said chambers, and means for withdrawing particulate material from one of the chambers after such material has been subjected to the action of the brushes.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which there are twice as many brushes in the second set as in the first set, and the brushes of the second set are larger in diameter than those of the first set.

8. Apparatus for reducing and comminuting partioulate material, comprising a container, at least three cylindrical wire brushes rotatabiy mounted Within the container with their axes parallel to each other and with the cylindrical surface of each brush disposed adjacent to that of two adjacent brushes to form a relatively confined inner chamber having a central axis surrounded by the brushes and parallel to their axes, the inner wall of the container being spaced from the cylindrical surfaces of the brushes to provide an outer annular chamber surrounding the brushes, means for adjusting the axes of the brushes radially oi the axis of the inner chamber to vary the clearance between adjacent brushes and to compensate for brush wear, means for rotating the brushes at high speed in the same rotational direction, means for charging particulate material into one of the chambers, and means for withdrawing particulate material from one of the chambers after such material has been subjected to the action of the brushes.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8, in which the means for radially adjusting the axes of the brushes comprises a shaft coaxial with and supporting each brush, bearings mounted on each end of the shaft for rotatably supporting each shaft, means supporting said bearings for reciprocal movement radially of the axis of the inner chamber, and screw means for imparting such reciprocal movement to said bearings.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATEPYIS 183,583 Mallory Oct. 24, 1876 1,027,163 Werner May 21, 1912 1,743,050 Harrington Feb. 18, 1930 2,658,603 Fernald Nov. 10, 1953 2,684,206 Zettel July 20, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,348 Great Britain of 1876 507,602 Great Britain June 19, 1939 

1. APPARATUS FOR REDUCING AND COMMINUTING PARTICULATE MATERIAL, COMPRISING A CONTAINER, AT LEAST THREE CYLINDRICAL WIRE BRUSHES ROTATABLY MOUNTED WITHIN THE CONTAINER WITH THEIR AXES PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND WITH THE CYLINDRICAL SURFACE OF EACH BRUSH DISPOSED ADJACENT TO THAT OF TWO ADJACENT BRUSHES TO FORM A RELATIVELY CONFINED INNER CHAMBER SURROUNDED BY THE BRUSHES, THE INNER WALL OF THE CONTAINER BEING SPACED FROM THE CYLINDRICAL SURFACES OF THE BRUSHES TO PROVIDE AN OUTER ANNULAR CHAMBER SURROUNDING THE BRUSHES, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE BRUSHES AT HIGH SPEED IN THE SAME ROTATIONAL DIRECTION, MEANS FOR CHARGING PARTICULATE MATERIAL INTO ONE OF THE CHAMBERS, AND MEANS FOR WITHDRAWING PARTICULATE MATERIAL FROM ONE OF THE CHAMBERS AFTER SUCH MATERIAL HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO THE ACTION OF THE BRUSHES. 